“All things work for good for those who love God” 17^th Sunday Year A

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Ps. 119; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52

            Saint Paul in the Second Reading for today, in his letter to the Romans, teaches that God has predestined those he called, justified, and glorified; in other words, God predestines people to heaven. Because God predestines people to heaven does not, though, mean God predestines people also to hell, as will be explained later.

          The teaching of divine predestination to heaven is to be understood in relationship with the truth that we have free will, as points out Brant Pitre, Sirach clearly states: “If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. …Before a man are life and death, and whichever he chooses will be given to him. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything”.^[1] (Sirach 15: 15-18)

         Interrelating God’s predestination with our free will, the Catechism teaches, “God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. … [T]he Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want ‘any to perish, but all to come to repentance’”. (CCC, 1037)

         Although God does not want any to perish and desires all to experience eternal happiness, God respects our free will and does not force happiness upon us. Since God is outside of time, God knows all that has happened, is happening, and will happen, including those decisions that we freely make and that are contrary to his desires for us.

         Emphasizing God’s loving providence, Paul also affirms in the second reading that “We know that all things work for good for those who love God”. Like the mystery of how free will relates to divine predestination, this truth is also a great mystery, especially when we experience suffering. In the midst of suffering, we are to continue to trust God, trusting that God will one day transform the evil and suffering we experience into a most beneficial good, as Jesus’ death on the Cross was followed by Jesus rising from the dead, defeating sin, suffering, and death.

         As God said to Solomon in today’s first reading, God says to us, “Ask something of me, and I will give it to you.” God is constantly telling this to us in subtle ways, and when telling us to ask him for something, God desires that we ask for what is best and holy for us. As good parents do not always give candy to their children when their children ask for candy since their children will then become sick, so God, as the best of parents, as the most loving Father, does not give us everything we ask, but still wants us to ask him to be given things for then, in a parent-child relationship, God can gradually heal, and sanctify our desires so that we desire and ask him more and more in accordance with what is actually good and best for us.

         Heavenly Father, be merciful to your children, configure us gradually more and more to the likeness of your Son, Jesus. May God Bless You All – Father Peter 

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^[1] Brant Pitre, “17^th Sunday Ordinary Time Year A,” catholicproductions.com.